


Camera Obscura

by BelladonnaLee



Series: Memory and Memento [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drama, Introspection, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-22
Updated: 2013-10-22
Packaged: 2017-12-30 11:54:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1018301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BelladonnaLee/pseuds/BelladonnaLee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An epilogue to <i>Born to be Blue</i> and its companion piece, <i>Goodbye, So Long, Adieu</i>. Only those closest to them would notice the subtle change; only those who know both of them well would notice their likeness -- Ginny happens to belong to both categories.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Camera Obscura

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter and its characters are not mine.

The Ministry of Magic was a mosaic of gleaming dark green and silver. On any given day, the Atrium would be flooded with witches and wizards and creatures, all moving along the same path as though drawn by the pull of an invisible moon. Yet, on this wintry day, Ginny Weasley, while waiting for her brother by the glittering fountain of nymphs, noticed a sphere of stillness amidst the tidal motion.

Some distance away beyond her earshot, Draco Malfoy, the natural-born schemer with a silver tongue, was conversing with Harry Potter, the new Auror who wielded his wand as proficiently as Draco wielded words of deception and manipulation in the vicious chessboard named politics.

Water streamed down from the outstretched hands of the marble statues behind Ginny, composing a melody woven by nature and magic; yet, she heard none of it. Unmoving nymphs, dressed in flowing mist of blue, purple, and grey, seemed to whisper to her words she already knew.

Enveloped in clandestine navy blue, Draco was like silver adamantine wrapped in elegant velvet. Clad in a pale grey shirt and dark trousers, Harry was less like the wild cat in his youth and more like a polished blade honed to near perfection. The likeness between the two men ought to have projected a harsh image into the viewer's mind, and yet, Ginny detected a certain harmony as the two men faced each other. Their silhouettes might not fit perfectly together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, but their presence melded into each other like water-colour.

Within the fragment of reality fit solely for two, Draco and Harry paid no heed to the swamping crowd around them. Unable to hear their conversation, Ginny could only observe the body language: the slight leaning of the body, the hint of a smile, the softening of the face, and the steady gaze.

How long had it been since those hardened eyes of Harry's glowed so brilliantly? How long had it been since those thin lips of Draco's curved into a real smile? Ginny knew she was witnessing a precious something that ought to be captured on film and kept hidden in the photo album that was one's heart.

At the thought, a sliver of envy flashed across her mind before genuine joy took its place; Ginny found herself smiling at the couple. Perhaps it was odd of her to cheer for her rival. Then again, Draco Malfoy was more than a rival; they could not help becoming comrades when they had fallen for the same pair of green eyes.

When a draught caressed her cheek, Ginny wondered for a fleeting moment if she, as Draco had done, could have chased away the ghosts haunting Harry's footstep. A beat later, she berated herself for being foolish. From the moment she chose not to wait for someone who would never be hers, she had forsaken her right to be Harry's Asclepius.

The first person to notice her gaze was Draco, who, as always, was more observant than Harry was. When Draco whispered something to Harry, the raven-haired man she would come to adore as a friend looked towards her direction and waved. Compelled by the pull of these two men that made up a significant part of her world, Ginny went to them with a smile flirting about her lips.

The one who had accompanied Harry into the Cocytus and pulled him out of the water was not her; the one who could offer Draco a sanctuary amidst this razor-riddled world was not her; the one who was captured inside the illusory viewfinder was not her. She would not ask if they had found their peace; she would not give them her blessing. Instead, from the other side of the camera lens, she would watch over this three-legged race of theirs to the very end.

* * * * * * *

__

_Finis._

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I don't usually depict the relationship between Harry and Draco as viewed from another character's POV. This drabble presents a possibility as seen from the other side of the camera. Asclepius is the god of healing. Cocytus is the river of lamentation that separates Hades and the world of the living. Thank you very much for reading.


End file.
